A mum has been left “fuming” after her elderly cat mistook the snowy Elf On The Shelf scene she created for her kids for a litter tray.
As many parents up and down the country will know, unique and exciting ‘Elf on the Shelf’ ideas can be quite hard to come by, but mum-of-two Katie Wright hatched the brilliant plan to create a snow angel scene by simply spreading sugar across the kitchen worktops and placing the mischievous elf in the middle to surprise her children.
But they ended up with a little more of a surprise than they were expecting.
It turns out the Elf On The Shelf wasn’t quite as mischievous as the family cat Tilly though, who mistook the sugar for her litter tray and left a poo on the worktop, leaving Katie and the kids to come downstairs to an “overpowering smell” in the morning.
Katie might not have quite seen the funny side of it all, explaining that she was “fuming” her Elf on the Shelf plans didn’t work out, but thousands of people on social media certainly got a laugh out of it.
After taking to Facebook to share some rather grim photographic evidence of the ‘surprise’ left by the cat, Katie’s post has since gone on to amass well over 25K interactions, and thousands of shares and comments by people all across the globe who were entertained and disgusted by the incident both at the same time.
Speaking to The Sun about the unfortunate event, 34-year-old Katie – who is mum to Oscar, four and Kiera, two – said: “It’s only my first year doing the elf as my eldest is only just four,”
“Oscar has really enjoyed it though and we’ve taken it easy knowing we probably have a decade of elf placements ahead of us. So when I saw online someone do the snow angel elf, I thought that would be nice and easy.
“It only took five minutes so I took a picture and headed off to bed.
“In the morning Oscar came running into my room asking to find the elf and raced downstairs, but the minute we walked through the dining room, the smell was over powering. My first thought wasn’t that is was anything to do with the elf – I picked Oscar up, worried we were about to step in something.”
Katie explained she finally found the source of the smell and burst into hysterical laughter.
“The smell got stronger and I saw it… a giant poo with the elf,” she said.
“I screamed but my son luckily just laughed and shouted ‘poo on the kitchen.’ I was a bit frantic [and] I knew Kiera was on her way in and there was a giant poo to keep them away from, so I was flapping a bit and all of a sudden the cat jumped back up and started shuffling the sugar and I thought ‘oh god she’s going to wee too’, so I chased her out the cat flap and suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
“Oscar thought I was crying and started saying ‘it’s ok mum’.”
Katie Wright / Caters News Agency
Not expecting the post to go viral social media, Katie said: “I posted online and it went mad. I suppose it is funny – it looks as though my Elf on the Shelf for the day was a giant poo.
“Not exactly mother of the year as I had to swear Oscar to secrecy when he went to school later that day.
“Tilly, our cat is a diva – she’s really not liking of human company.
“She was ok and would accept the odd cuddle pre-children, but she’s really never forgiven us for having the children. It didn’t help that we’ve been renovating this big house and have just moved in so she’s had a litter tray for a month.
“She was probably just desperate and really, she’s just an old lady that wants to be left alone.”
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A sneak peek at the first pour: Greater Manchester celebrates the return of Boddingtons
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has every reason to drink and jubilate this Friday and toast the perfect excuse for an early dart as the first fresh pours in a new chapter for Boddingtons beer have been sunk.
And by’eck if ain’t still bloody gorgeous.
That’s right, in case you didn’t hear the latest news about ‘Cream of Manchester’, we can now officially and ever-so gladly confirm that Boddingtons Bitter is properly back on draught in the region.
With the iconic cask ale making a glorious return decades on from its glory days in the 1990s, the new and improved Boddies beer is flowing from the taps – just in time for the weekend, no less.
Yes, with local brewery and pub chain J.W. Lees taking over the manufacturing and distribution, leaving the Budweiser Group to take over the licensing, the updated recipe Boddingtons – which clocks in at a 4.0% ABV – is about to be rolled out across the 10 boroughs.
Better yet, with five native pubs having already reinstalled honey yellow and black pumps, and with Lees looking to deliver it to the ale-loving masses across the North West, this could be the biggest Manc comeback since, well, those two lads from Burnage…
Speaking of: we were invited along to Founder’s Hall on Albert Square (formerly Duttons and now home to every one of the brand’s beers, not to mention serving as a tribute to John Lees himself), for a special ceremony to celebrate the inaugural public pints of Boddies being poured.
Let’s just say we were honoured to be part of the grand resurrection.
Obviously, there have been some holdouts hanging onto the classic Mancunian brew, and we certainly had fun trying to track them down over the past couple of years, but we’re just glad we don’t have to do as much work to find one now.
Managing Director of JW Lees, William Lees-Jones, said on the relaunch: “When I joined JW Lees in 1994, Boddingtons was ‘The Cream of Manchester’ and we were in awe of their position in leading the cask beer revolution.
“We’re proud to bring it back home, starting with Founder’s Hall, and we’re planning to restore Boddington’s as one of the UK’s leading premium cask beers, particularly here in the North West.” Well said, sir.
Available from Founder’s Hall, The Black Friar in Salford, Stables Tavern; Sams Chop House, The Circus Tavern, Oxford Road Tap, Piccadilly Tap and Victoria Tap from today, as well as Corbières and Stockport pubs like The Crown and The White Lion, we can’t wait to see Boddingtons take over the nation.
In the meantime, why not look back at the storied history behind one of our finest exports?
Subway launches make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ across UK
Emily Sergeant
Subway is finally launching its viral make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ at all its restaurants in the UK.
That’s right – you can now walk into any Greater Manchester Subway and order a jacket potato instead of a sandwich, and you get to choose exactly what goes on top of it.
Britain has always been a nation of ‘jacket fanatics’, with almost half of Brits claiming the spud to be a British cultural icon, but according to new research by Subway, it’s been found that nearly a quarter (23%) of us have argued with family and friends over how to prepare or serve one.
So it’s fair to say that, yes, us Brits do love ourselves a jacket potato, and this is why ‘Spudway’ is launching nationwide.
The UK-wide rollout of Spudway comes after it was trailed in select sites earlier this year, and then proved so popular that the trail was extended to include more locations.
Now, those fluffy jacket potatoes are available everywhere.
You can choose topping options like the simple Cheese & Beans or Tuna Mayo, or you can opt for Subway specialities like Meatball Marinara, and Chicken Tikka, but the beauty of Spudaway is it’s all fully customisable.
This means you can pick, quite simply, from whatever you fancy at the protein and salad counters, and finish it with your choice of Subway’s wide selection of signature sauces.
“The nation’s love of Jacket Potatoes is unparalleled,” commented Cathy Goodwin, who is the Interim Director of Culinary & Innovation Subway EMEA.
Subway has finally launched its make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ all across the UK / Credit: Subway
“The enthusiasm we’ve seen on social media and the strong demand from our guests throughout the trial made it clear that Spudway deserved a permanent place on our menu.
“Made with British potatoes, Irish salted butter, a double portion of cheese, and fully customisable with any of our many toppings, Spudway is the perfect freshly-made, high-quality lunch choice.”
Spudway jacket potatoes are freshly baked in-store daily and can be enjoyed on their own, or as part of a meal deal – which includes a spud, drink, plus crisps or a cookie.
Emily Sergeant -
21st December 2020 
